The strongest healing power is already within us. It keeps us alive day after day despite cuts, infections, broken bones, rogue cancer cells, upsets, confusions, toxins and more.

When we don’t heal or when we develop chronic illness, it is a sign that our natural abilities are exhausted or blocked. This natural ability to heal is the subject of Five Element acupuncture.

Natural healing uses nature. The five elements are aspects of nature that can be in balance or out. The elements correspond to the seasons. Each season has a characteristic feel or energy and a characteristic way it looks, smells, sounds, and feels. In New England, we are very different on July 4th than on January 1. How we experience nature is different, as is how we feel in our bodies and even the kinds of food we want.

The ancient Chinese mapped a system of meridians throughout the body that channels qi to every cell (qi is a Chinese word that means something like the energy or vitality of life). Each meridian connects to specific organs and tissues and each acupuncture point has a specific function on the qi of that channel. By careful diagnosis of energetic deficiencies and blocks, we can add qi where it’s needed and move qi where it’s stuck.

The goal is not to fix the disease, but to find the block in you that prevents you from healing the disease yourself. The block may be in the body, the mind or the spirit. There are ways to treat each of these levels with acupuncture, herbs and acupressure.